BILL NUMBER: AB 2306	CHAPTERED  09/07/00

	CHAPTER   312
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 7, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 2, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 25, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 25, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 23, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 8, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 28, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 8, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 11, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 1, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Florez and Senator Ortiz
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Ducheny, Honda, Knox, Lowenthal,
Mazzoni, Strom-Martin, Torlakson, Wiggins, and Wildman)
   (Coauthors:  Senators Alarcon and Costa)

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2000

   An act to amend Sections 50455, 50517.5, and 50517.6 of, to amend
the heading of Chapter 3.2 (commencing with Section 50517.5) of Part
2 of Division 31 of, and to add Sections 1179.6 and 50517.11 to, the
Health and Safety Code, relating to farmworkers, and declaring the
urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2306, Florez.  Farmworker programs.
   (1) Under existing law, the California Rural Health Policy Council
in the California Health and Human Services Agency is established to
improve access to, and the quality of, health care in rural areas.
   This bill would require the State Department of Health Services to
review and survey the extent to which agricultural workers and their
families utilize those public health programs for which they are
eligible, in order to provide improved delivery of services to the
families of agricultural workers.  The bill would specify the
components of the survey, require the department, in conducting the
survey, to ensure the full participation of entities that provide
services to agricultural workers, and require the department to
report the survey results to the Legislature on or before March 1,
2001, and to submit an implementation plan based on those results to
the Legislature on or before December 31, 2001.
   (2) Under existing law, the Department of Housing and Community
Development is required to develop a statewide farmworker housing
assistance plan and related policies, goals, and objectives for
inclusion in the California Statewide Housing Plan.
   This bill would require that the farm labor housing assistance
plan include specified information regarding availability of, and
funding for, housing for farm laborers, and other information.
   The bill also would require the department to establish a task
force to assist in the development of the farm labor housing
assistance plan and would require that the plan be developed or
revised with the specified information by July 1, 2002.
   (3) Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community
Development to establish a Farmworker Housing Grant Program to make
funds available to local public entities and nonprofit corporations
for the construction or rehabilitation of housing for agricultural
employees and their families.
   This bill would rename this program as the "Joe Serna, Jr.
Farmworker Housing Grant Program" and would also create the "Joe
Serna, Jr. Farmworker Family Wellness Program" to provide for the
integration of, among other things, family health and other family
services to agricultural workers in conjunction with these programs.

   The bill would also authorize the department to enter into a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) or contract, as specified, with a
nonprofit corporation that demonstrates statewide experience,
capacity, and capability in designing, financing, and implementing
programs for providing housing for agricultural workers and
integrating health services with the provision of farmworker housing.
  The bill would also provide that the department shall not enter
into a new MOU or contract or commit additional funding to these
programs after January 1, 2004, except as specified.
   The bill would require the nonprofit corporation to report to the
department and would require the department to report the results of
the wellness program to the Legislature on or before December 31,
2002.
  (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 1179.6 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
   1179.6.  (a) (1) In order to provide improved delivery of services
to the families of agricultural workers, the State Department of
Health Services shall review and survey the extent to which
agricultural workers and their families utilize those public health
programs for which they are eligible.  In conducting the survey, the
department shall ensure the full participation of entities that
provide services to agricultural workers, including clinics,
community-based agencies, public health departments, and
organizations and associations involved with agricultural worker
health and well-being.  Programs considered in the survey shall
include, but shall not be limited to, all of the following:
   (A) The Medi-Cal program.
   (B) The Healthy Families program.
   (C) The Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment
Program (EPSDT).
   (D) The Child Health and Disability Prevention Program (CHDP).
   (E) Health clinics.
   (F) Public health prevention programs.
   (G) Immunization programs.
   (H) Community mental health programs.
   (I) Programs funded under the California Children and Families
Program.
   (J) Parenting programs.
   (K) Teen pregnancy prevention and case management programs.
   (L) Domestic violence and child abuse prevention programs.
   (M) Any other relevant programs available in communities of
agricultural workers.
   (2) The department shall use the results of the survey to prepare
an implementation plan that maximizes access and streamlines service
delivery, in order to make comprehensive family wellness programs
readily available to agricultural workers and their families.  In
developing the implementation plan, the department shall ensure the
full participation of entities contributing to the survey of
available services.  The implementation plan shall be based on the
principles set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 50517.5, including
all of the following:
   (A) Involvement of agricultural workers and their families in
program design and delivery.
   (B) Community collaboration on the local level among available
public and private agencies.
   (C) Coordination with the provision of adequate housing.
   (b) (1) The survey shall address the extent to which outreach
programs are directed to, and succeed in, reaching agricultural
workers and their families, and shall identify any geographical,
cultural, linguistic, or other barriers that may prevent full
utilization of available services.
   (2) The survey shall place significant emphasis on actual
experiences of agricultural workers and their families.
   (c) The department shall report the results of the survey required
by this section to the Legislature on or before March 1, 2001, and
shall present the Legislature with the implementation plan required
by paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) on or before December 31, 2001.

  SEC. 2.  Section 50455 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   50455.  (a) The department shall develop a statewide farm labor
housing assistance plan and related policies, goals, and objectives
for inclusion in the California Statewide Housing Plan.
   (b) The farm labor housing assistance plan shall include, but not
be limited to, an identification of impediments to the production of
housing affordable to farm laborers, federal, state, and local
sources of financing, private sources of funding, innovative
approaches to financing that could be used as a model, the analysis
of the need for permanent and migrant housing, and measures that need
to be implemented to address the need for farm labor housing.
   (c) The department shall establish a task force to assist in the
development of the farm labor housing assistance plan.  The task
force shall include representatives of state housing departments and
agencies involved in the planning and production of housing,
infrastructure, and services to farm laborers and representatives
from local government, agricultural organizations, organizations of
farm laborers, and organizations serving farm laborers and low-income
residents in rural areas.
   (d) The department shall develop or revise the farm labor housing
assistance plan on or before July 1, 2002.  In the event the
department does not update or provide the next revision of the
California Statewide Housing Plan pursuant to Section 50452 on or
before July 1, 2002, the department shall release the farm labor
housing assistance plan separately from the California Statewide
Housing Plan.
  SEC. 3.   The heading of Chapter 3.2 (commencing with Section
50517.5) of Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:

      CHAPTER 3.2.  THE JOE SERNA, JR. FARMWORKER HOUSING GRANT
PROGRAM

  SEC. 4.  Section 50517.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   50517.5.  (a) (1) The department shall establish the Joe Serna,
Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program under which, subject to the
availability of funds therefor, grants shall be made to local public
entities and nonprofit corporations for the construction or
rehabilitation of housing for agricultural employees and their
families.  Under this program, grants may also be made for the
purchase of land in connection with housing assisted pursuant to this
section and for the construction and rehabilitation of related
support facilities necessary to the housing.  In its administration
of this program, the department shall disburse grant funds to the
local public entities and nonprofit corporations or may, at the
request of the local public entity or nonprofit corporation that
sponsors and supervises the rehabilitation program, disburse grant
funds to agricultural employees who are participants in a
rehabilitation program sponsored and supervised by the local public
entity or nonprofit corporation.  No part of a grant made pursuant to
this section may be used for project organization or planning.
   (2) The program shall be administered by the Director of Housing
and Community Development and officers and employees of the
department as he or she may designate.
   (3) It is the intent of the Legislature that, in administering the
program, the director shall facilitate, to the greatest extent
possible, the construction and rehabilitation of permanent dwellings
for year-round occupancy and ownership by agricultural employees,
including ownership of the sites upon which the dwellings are
located.
   (b) (1) The Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Fund is hereby
created in the State Treasury.  Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, all money in the fund is continuously appropriated
to the department for making grants pursuant to this section and for
costs incurred by the department in administering the grant program.

   (2) There shall be paid into the fund the following:
   (A) Any moneys appropriated and made available by the Legislature
for purposes of the fund.
   (B) Any moneys that the department receives in repayment or return
of grants from the fund, including any interest therefrom.
   (C) Any other moneys that may be made available to the department
for the purposes of this chapter from any other source or sources.
   (c) Grants made pursuant to this section shall be matched by
grantees with at least equal amounts of federal moneys, other cash
investments, or in-kind contributions.
   (d) With respect to the supervision of grantees, the department
shall do the following:
   (1) Establish minimum capital reserves to be maintained by
grantees.
   (2) Fix and alter from time to time a schedule of rents that may
be necessary to provide residents of housing assisted pursuant to
this section with affordable rents to the extent consistent with the
maintenance of the financial integrity of the housing project.  No
grantee shall increase the rent on any unit constructed or
rehabilitated with the assistance of funds granted pursuant to this
section without the prior permission of the department, which shall
be given only if the grantee affirmatively demonstrates that the
increase is required to defray necessary operating costs or avoid
jeopardizing the fiscal integrity of the housing project.
   (3) Determine standards for, and control selection by grantees of,
tenants and subsequent purchasers of housing constructed or
rehabilitated with the assistance of funds granted pursuant to this
section.
   (4) (A) Require as a condition precedent to a grant of funds that
the grantee be record owner in fee of the assisted real property and
that the grantee shall have entered into a written agreement with the
department binding upon the grantee and successors in interest to
the grantee.  The agreement shall include the conditions under which
the funds advanced may be repaid.  The agreement shall include
provisions for a lien on the assisted real property in favor of the
State of California for the purpose of securing performance of the
agreement.  The agreement shall also provide that the lien shall
endure until released by the Director of Housing and Community
Development.
   (B) In the event that funds granted pursuant to this section
constitute less than 25 percent of the total development cost or
value, whichever is applicable, of a project assisted under this
section, the department may adopt, by regulation, criteria for
determining the number of units in a project to which the
restrictions on occupancy contained in the agreement apply.  In no
event may these regulations provide for the application of the
agreement to a percentage of units in a project that is less than the
percentage of total development costs that funds granted pursuant to
this section represent.
   (C) Contemporaneously with the disbursement of the initial funds
to a grantee, the department shall cause to be recorded, in the
office of the county recorder of the county in which the assisted
real property is located, a notice of lien executed by the Director
of Housing and Community Development.  The notice of lien shall refer
to the agreement required by this paragraph for which it secures and
it shall include a legal description of the assisted real property
that is subject to the lien.  The notice of lien shall be indexed by
the recorder in the Grantor Index to the name of the grantee and in
the Grantee Index to the name of the State of California, Department
of Housing and Community Development.  The department shall adopt by
regulation criteria for the determination of the lien period.  This
regulation shall take into account whether the property is held by
multifamily rental, single-family ownership, or cooperative ownership
and whether it is new construction or rehabilitative construction.
   (D) Pursuant to regulations adopted by the department, the
department may execute and cause to be recorded in the office of the
recorder of the county in which a notice of lien has been recorded, a
subordination of the lien.  The regulations adopted by the
department shall provide that any subordination of the lien shall not
jeopardize the security interest of the state and shall further the
interest of farmworker housing.  The recitals contained in the
subordination shall be conclusive in favor of any bona fide purchaser
or lender relying thereon.
   (5) Regulate the terms of occupancy agreements or resale controls,
to be used in housing assisted pursuant to this section.
   (6) Provide bilingual services and publications, or require
grantees to do so, as necessary to implement the purposes of this
section.
   (7) The agreement between the department and the grantee shall
provide, among other things, that both of the following occur:
   (A) Upon the sale or conveyance of the real property, or any part
thereof, for use other than for agricultural employee occupancy, the
grantee or its successors shall, as a condition for the release of
the lien provided pursuant to paragraph (4), repay to the fund the
department's grant funds.
   (B) Upon the sale or conveyance of the real property or any part
thereof for continued agricultural employee occupancy, the transferee
shall assume the obligation of the transferor and the real property
shall be transferred to the new owner; provided that the transferee
agrees to abide by the agreement entered into between the transferor
and the department and that the new owner takes the property subject
to the lien provided pursuant to paragraph (4), except that this lien
shall, at the time of the transfer of the property to the new owner,
be extended for an additional lien period determined by the
department pursuant to paragraph (4), and the new owner shall not be
credited with the lien period that had run from the time the
transferor had acquired the property to the time of transfer to the
new owner, unless the department determines that it is in the best
interest of the state and consistent with the intent of this section
to so credit the lien period to the new owner.  However, the lien
shall have priority as of the recording date of the lien for the
original grantee, pursuant to paragraph (4).
   (e) The department may do any of the following with respect to
grantees:
   (1) Through its agents or employees enter upon and inspect the
lands, buildings, and equipment of a grantee, including books and
records, at any time before, during, or after construction or
rehabilitation of units assisted pursuant to this section.  However,
there shall be no entry or inspection of any unit that is occupied,
whether or not any occupant is actually present, without the consent
of the occupant.
   (2) Supervise the operation and maintenance of any housing
assisted pursuant to this section and order repairs as may be
necessary to protect the public interest or the health, safety, or
welfare of occupants of the housing.
   (f) The department shall include in its annual report required by
Section 50408, a current report of the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker
Housing Grant  Program.  The report shall include, but need not be
limited to, (1) the number of households assisted, (2) the average
income of households assisted and the distribution of annual incomes
among assisted households, (3) the rents paid by households assisted,
(4) the number and amount of grants made to each nonprofit
corporation and local public entity in the preceding year, (5) the
dollar value of funding derived from sources other than the state for
each project receiving a grant under this section, and an
identification of each source, (6) recommendations, as needed, to
improve operations of the program and respecting the desirability of
extending its application to other groups in rural areas identified
by the department as having special need for state housing
assistance, and (7) the number of manufactured housing units assisted
under this section.
   (g) As used in this section:
   (1) "Agricultural employee" has the same meaning as specified in
subdivision (b) of Section 1140.4 of the Labor Code, but also
includes any person who works at a packing shed for a labor
contractor or other entity that contracts with an agricultural
employer in order to perform services in connection with handling,
drying, packing, or storing any agricultural commodity in its raw or
natural state, whether or not this person is encompassed within the
definition specified in subdivision (b) of Section 1140.4 of the
Labor Code.
   (2) "Grantee" means the local public entity or nonprofit
corporation that is awarded the grant under this section and, at the
request thereof, may include an individual homeowner receiving direct
payment of a grant for rehabilitation under this section who
occupies the assisted housing both before and after the
rehabilitation and who is a participant in a rehabilitation program
sponsored and supervised by a local public entity or nonprofit
corporation.
   (3) "Housing" may include, but need not be limited to,
conventionally constructed units and manufactured housing.
   (h) The department may offer the assistance offered pursuant to
this chapter in any area where there is a substantial unmet need for
farmworker housing.
  SEC. 5.  Section 50517.6 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   50517.6.  (a) The department may set aside the amount of funds
authorized by subdivision (d) for the purposes of curing or averting
a default on the terms of any loan or other obligation by the
recipient of financial assistance, or bidding at any foreclosure sale
where the default or foreclosure sale would jeopardize the
department's security in the dwelling unit assisted pursuant to this
chapter.
   (b) The department may use the set-aside funds made available
pursuant to this chapter to repair or maintain any dwelling unit
assisted pursuant to this chapter that was acquired to protect the
department's security interest in the dwelling unit.
   (c) The payment or advance of funds by the department pursuant to
this section shall be exclusively within the department's discretion,
and no person shall be deemed to have any entitlement to the payment
or advance of those funds.  The amount of any funds expended by the
department for the purposes of curing or averting a default shall be
added to any grant amount secured by the lien and shall be payable to
the department upon demand.
   (d) On the effective date of the act that adds this section, the
department may set aside up to two hundred thousand dollars
($200,000) from the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Fund for
the purposes authorized by this section.  On July 1 of each
subsequent fiscal year, the department may set aside, for the
purposes of this section, up to 4 percent of the funds available in
the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Fund on that date.
  SEC. 6.  Section 50517.11 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
   50517.11.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) California's hard-working agricultural workers have made
critical contributions to California's agricultural economy for many
generations.
   (2) The health, housing, and economic and social conditions of
agricultural workers have been long ignored by public policy, such
that this lowest-paid segment of our labor force has lived in poverty
conditions, with inadequate health care, housing, and other
services.
   (3) The late Mayor of Sacramento, Joe Serna, Jr., who grew up as a
farmworker and provided an inspiration by making invaluable
contributions to society, maintained a lifelong interest in improving
the conditions of agricultural workers and their families and
children.
   (4) Housing is a primary determinant of health.
   (5) While California has established a Farmworker Housing Grant
Program, it has not attempted to integrate its housing programs with
broader programs to ensure the health and improve the conditions of
agricultural worker families.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact the "Joe Serna,
Jr.  Farmworker Family Wellness Act," to provide for all of the
following:
   (1) Integration, coordination, and expansion of health services to
achieve the goal of advancing comprehensive strategies for improving
the health status of agricultural workers and their families.
   (2) Integration, coordination, and expansion of community-based
services, including housing, educational, recreational, and social
services, to serve the varied needs of agricultural worker families.

   (3) A means for integration and coordination of public, private,
and nonprofit services in conjunction with the Joe Serna, Jr.
Farmworker Housing Grant Program to maximize the effectiveness of
services to agricultural worker families.
   (c) (1) There is hereby created the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker
Family Wellness Program, to provide for the integration of family
health and other family services with the housing component of
Section 50517.5.  The program shall contain elements that provide for
all of the following:
   (A) The provision of housing and the provision of health and other
family services for agricultural workers in a coordinated manner.
   (B) Involvement of agricultural workers in decisions about
priorities for programs and services that are needed.
   (C) The participation of other community partners, including
schools, in a collaborative effort to provide these programs and
services in conjunction with the construction of new housing or the
rehabilitation of existing housing.
   (2) Subject to funding in the Budget Act of 2000 for a program to
link up farmworker housing grant funds to housing developments that
also provide health and other family services, the Department of
Housing and Community Development may enter into a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) or contract for the implementation of this
program with a nonprofit corporation that demonstrates statewide
experience, capacity, and capability in designing, financing, and
implementing programs for providing housing for agricultural workers
and integrating health services with the provision of farmworker
housing.  The MOU or contract shall provide that the nonprofit
corporation shall process and approve applications received from
potential grantees, oversee project development and implementation,
and oversee the long-term monitoring and compliance required by
Section 50517.5 and this section.  The MOU or contract shall include
the criteria for consultation with the department or department
approval of various components of the program and an expedited
process with the intent of providing approvals in a shortened
timeframe.  The department may prescribe conditions related to the
deposit, use, and accounting of funds for operation of the program.
The MOU or contract shall further provide that the department funds
awarded to any grantee by the nonprofit corporation be used in
conjunction with the nonprofit corporation's funds in both the
housing construction or rehabilitation component as well as the
health and family services component.  The nonprofit corporation's
funds may be used as all or a portion of the match required by
subdivision (c) of Section 50517.5.
   (3) The department shall not be subject to the requirements of
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
   (4) A nonprofit corporation selected pursuant to paragraph (2)
shall report the information required by this paragraph to the
Department of Housing and Community Development and the department
shall report to the Legislature the results of the Joe Serna, Jr.
Farmworker Family Wellness Program on or before December 31, 2002.
The report shall include all of the following:
   (A) Details of the MOU.
   (B) Number of grants awarded to grantees.
   (C) Details about the projects operated using grant funds
identifying information related to all of the elements provided in
paragraph (1).
   (D) Number of new housing units built, rehabilitated, or under
construction.
   (E) Details about the physical and other benefits received by
agricultural workers and their families from participation in the
health and family services programs while living in the housing units
assisted by this program.
   (d) The department shall not enter into a new MOU or contract or
commit additional funding to the program after January 1, 2004,
except for costs and activities related to long-term compliance and
monitoring of projects assisted pursuant to this section.
  SEC. 7.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect.  The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to improve the health and well-being of agricultural
workers and their families by improving delivery of public health
services and making available grant funds for housing at the earliest
possible time, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately.
